Industries and Labor Force

Labor force speaks to City of Dallas residents. With a Labor Force Participation Rate well above the nation's rate, the City is a place to both live and work. Note in the graph below that the gap between those residents how are working (Employment in blue) and those either looking for work or working (Labor Force in orange) has been decreasing rapidly since the recession.

Unemployment Rate

The City of Dallas has either matched or out-performed the national unemployment rate since 2008. The City’s diverse business and industry mosaic have helped keep its unemployment rate lower than the U.S. average.

Workforce, Payroll Employment, and Commuting / Workforce Labor Shed

The City of Dallas is the largest local economy in the nation’s fourth largest metropolitan area. Dallas’ diverse industry employment mix continues to support steady and progressive local economic growth and continues to dampen the negative effects of any single industry downturn. In 2016, the Trade, Transportation and Utilities sector was the largest industry sector by employment within the City. The Professional and Business Services and the Education and Health Services sectors tied for the second largest employment share followed by Leisure and Hospitality.

Dallas' Central Business District as a Place of Work

The City of Dallas, and downtown Dallas (CBD), is the transportation hub of Dallas-Fort Worth.

The regional highway network converges on downtown Dallas, with the intersection of I-35E, I-30 and I-45, along with the termini of the Dallas North Tollway and the North Central Expressway.

The average commute time to the CBD is 17 minutes for a resident in the City of Dallas and a 33 minute average for a resident in greater Dallas-Fort Worth.

Commuting from the major counties in the Dallas area, the breakout is as follows:

52.5% live in Dallas County

10.0% live in Tarrant County

9.7% live in Collin County

Target Industries

Dallas has a richly diverse business base. Its large, well educated workforce, central location and history of innovation support several major industry clusters. Through detailed research, the City of Dallas identified several industries that have proven to be very successful in Dallas. These industry niches are also ones considered to have especially good prospects given global and local trends in business and technology and because of Dallas' unique set of economic assets. The success of these industries demonstrates the overall viability of Dallas as a major business city.

Building Design, Construction, and Furnishing

Company Headquarters and Operations

Food Manufacturing

Instruments

IT Services

Logistics

Media

Telecommunications

Transportation Manufacturing and Assembly

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Labor Force vs. Workforce

While the terms are used interchangeably, this is what WE mean:

Labor Force

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all persons employed or unemployed, measured by where they live. (Household Employment – BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics [LAUS])

Workforce

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all persons on establishment payrolls employed, full or part time, measured by where they work. (Payroll Employment Statistics – BLS Employment, Hours, and Earnings - State and Metro Area)

Dallas, both the City and region, is an economically dynamic and diverse area. We provide insight of the incredibly skilled potential worker pool, both coming and going.

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